"Pandora's box opened with a kiss shared amongst two grieving souls. And for a moment, I think we both felt whole."
A Tale of Her is a masterpiece. It was short but said all the right things, and shared the rawest kind of emotions. I have immense respect for poets, and Maanarak of Grey is proof of the realness and artistry that is poetry.
Some of her lines really stuck out to me, and despite not knowing her, I could somehow relate to what she was feeling through her words alone.
"So, I write, and I create. In creating, I reclaim my energy. In doing this, I go on adventures and discover new things. It allows me to let go of things I never could."
This right here.
I found myself reading these lines over and over again because they struck me with such intensity I felt as if I was reading my own thoughts. It's mind-blowing. And inspiring.
Maanarak of Grey also went into depth about rejection and the substantiality of breakups. The feeling of hopelessness and despair. The feeling of disappointment. So many human emotions entwined with one another, so similar it was hard to tell them apart.
"I'm afraid of being rejected, but perhaps I have been rejecting myself in an attempt to make others more comfortable around me. And then there is a vicious cycle of trying to balance my comfort against the comfort of others. In light of recent events, I've come to realize that people may reject me either way. I cannot control that, as I've said before. All I can do is not reject myself."
You could tell from her words the honesty and cognizance that came with it. Her words were impactful, meaningful to me in a way I didn't know was possible.
And I know in a few days from now, a few weeks even, these words will come back to me, reminding me of the work of art I had read and couldn't recommend enough to lovers of poetry.
If this is you, read the book. You won't regret it.